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Beyond Bloomington 85 results
In the early 1800s, free Black pioneers settled in Orange County in what is now part of the Hoosier National Forest. The community thrived, despite a racist state constitution, hateful whites, and fugitive-slave catchers. As racial tensions increased, many of the families sold their land and left. Writer Diane Walker tracked down sources and documents to reveal what happened during this remarkable time in Indiana history. Pictured here, the East Fork of the White River near the Hoosier National Forest in Martin County. | Limestone Post

Lick Creek Settlement Holds Piece of Black History in Indiana
Diane Walker
In the early 1800s, free Black pioneers settled in Orange County. The community thrived, despite a racist state constitution, hateful whites, and fugitive-slave catchers. As racial tensions increased, many of the families sold their land and left. Writer Diane Walker tracked down sources and documents to reveal what happened during this remarkable time in Indiana history. Click here to read the full story.
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Protesters affiliated with the Indiana Forest Alliance work to protect 300 acres of the Yellowwood State Forest Back Country Area in Brown County in 2017. Since 2012, the Indiana Division of Forestry has increased logging of state forests by 400 percent, says IFA's Anne Laker. | Photo courtesy of the Indiana Forest Alliance

Guest Column: Protecting Indiana Forests, the Bad News and the Good
Anne Laker
Since 2012, the Indiana Division of Forestry has increased logging of state forests by 400 percent, says Anne Laker of the Indiana Forest Alliance. In this guest column, Laker talks about the dangers facing our publicly owned forests and an Indiana Senate bill that could protect them. She also previews the upcoming Wild & Scenic Film Festival in Bloomington. Click here to read the full story
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Zaineb Istrabadi (center), pictured here in Bloomington in 1974 with her father, Rasoul (right), and cousins, calls herself “a Baghdadi. Hoosier” Writer Michael G. Glab calls her the apotheosis of a Midwesterner in his profile of the longtime senior lecturer in IU’s Department of Near Eastern Languages & Cultures. | Courtesy photo

Big Mike’s B-town: Zaineb Istrabadi, Baghdadi Hoosier
Michael G. Glab
Zaineb Istrabadi calls herself “a Baghdadi Hoosier.” Writer Michael G. Glab calls her the apotheosis of a Midwesterner in his profile of the longtime senior lecturer in IU’s Department of Near Eastern Languages & Cultures. He also calls her “a woman of the world” and a member of one of Bloomington’s most storied families. Click here to read the full story.
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Peregrine Falcons in America have soared back from the brink of extinction since the 1960s, even in Indiana. Just as humans caused their decline, “it was also dedicated humans who brought these birds back,” writes Jared Posey. This “standout conservation success story” is unusual because peregrines “may be benefiting from an increasingly urban landscape," such as Kinney, pictured here in Indianapolis. | Photo courtesy of Indiana Department of Natural Resources

Peregrine Falcons, a Conservation Success Story
Jared Posey
Peregrine falcons in America have soared back from the brink of extinction since the 1960s, even in Indiana. Just as humans caused their decline, “it was also dedicated humans who brought these birds back,” writes Jared Posey. This “standout conservation success story” is unusual because peregrines “may be benefiting from an increasingly urban landscape.” Click here to read the full story.
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The premise of our healthcare system without the Affordable Care Act: If you can’t afford healthcare, you don’t deserve it, writes Rob Stone, a local physician, healthcare activist, and one of the founders of Hoosiers for a Commonsense Health Plan. Stone and others are fighting to protect Hoosiers from this “medical caste system.” | Courtesy photo

Guest Column: ‘The Antidote to Healthcare Despair Is Activism’
Rob Stone
The premise of our healthcare system without the Affordable Care Act? If you can’t afford healthcare, you don’t deserve it, writes Rob Stone, a local physician, healthcare activist, and one of the founders of Hoosiers for a Commonsense Health Plan. Stone and others are fighting to protect Hoosiers from this “medical caste system.” Click here to read the full story.
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This summer, 25 IU Mandela Washington Fellows took part in Bloomington's 4th of July Parade. Sierra Leone's Eastina Marian Boimadi Taylor says she met many inspiring people while in Indiana, and and she is using many of their ideas back home. | Courtesy photo

IU Mandela Washington Fellow Takes ‘New Ideas’ from Indiana Home to Sierra Leone
Limestone Post
Eastina Marian Boimadi Taylor was so inspired by her visit to Indiana this past summer that she is using some of the ideas created here to inspire others in her home in Freetown, Sierra Leone. She says, "All I see now is possibilities." This is the second of two Q&A articles featuring young leaders in the Mandela Washington Fellowship at Indiana University. Click here to read the full story.
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In 1948, President Truman signed an executive order that desegregated the U.S. military. While protests against segregation had occurred for years across the country, a nonviolent act of disobedience by African American officers at an Army base in Seymour, Indiana, reportedly contributed to Truman’s decision. Pictured here with a hidden camera, 101 arrested officers are about to board transports bound for Godman Army Field in Kentucky to be court-martialed. | Public domain

Tuskegee Airmen at 1940s Hoosier Airfield Played Role in Military Desegregation
Paul Bean
In 1948, President Truman signed an executive order that desegregated the U.S. military. While protests against segregation had occurred for years across the country, a nonviolent act of disobedience by 100 African American officers at an Army base in Seymour, Indiana, reportedly contributed to Truman’s decision. This protest, writer Paul Bean says, is often mischaracterized as an "uprising" or "mutiny." Click here to read the full story.
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With all the world music being performed this week at Lotus, at least two acts have powerful messages for our own country. Raye Zaragoza’s music often conveys political, social, or environmental messages folded into song, while Making Movies (pictured here) portrays the struggles of immigrants, writes Sara Sheikh, marketing director of the Lotus Education & Arts Foundation. | Courtesy photo

Guest Column: Lotus Artists Follow Hearts, Challenge Social Injustices
Sara Sheikh
With all the world music being performed this week at Lotus, at least two acts have powerful messages for our own country. Raye Zaragoza’s music often conveys political, social, or environmental messages folded into song, while Making Movies portrays the struggles of immigrants, writes Sara Sheikh, marketing director of the Lotus Education & Arts Foundation. Click here to read the full story.
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Francis Shok Mweze spent six weeks this summer in IU’s Mandela Washington Fellowship, taking many photos while he was here, such as this one of the Indiana University Sample Gates and Kirkwood Avenue. Now back in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, he hopes to make his hometown a “visual arts capital in the region.” | Photo by Francis Shok Mweze

IU Mandela Washington Fellow Shares Impressions and Photos of Bloomington
Limestone Post, Francis Shok Mweze
Francis Shok Mweze spent six weeks this summer in IU’s Mandela Washington Fellowship. Now back in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, he hopes to make his hometown a “visual arts capital in the region.” Limestone Post asked Mweze about his ambitions, his stay in Bloomington, and about the photos he took while here. Click here to read our Q&A with Mweze and to see some of his photos of Bloomington.
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Cristian Medina, a poet, cook, IU researcher, and chess leader from Arica, Chile, moved to Bloomington in the mid-2000s. Pictured here, Medina sits at his desk at the Indiana Geological and Water Survey. | Photo by Chaz Mottinger

Big Mike’s B-town: Cristian Medina, Scientist, Poet, Chess Leader
Michael G. Glab
Cristian Medina, a poet, cook, IU researcher, and chess leader from Arica, Chile, has found plenty to keep him busy since moving to Bloomington in the mid-2000s. LP columnist Michael G. Glab talks to Medina about his hometown — bordered by ocean, mountains, and desert — geology and climate change, his work founding Cardboard House Press, and more in the latest Big-Mike’s B-town. Click here to read the full story.
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If you’re looking to escape the weekend crowds this month, two massive festivals in two tiny towns might just be the ticket. The White River Valley Antique Show and the Lanesville Heritage Weekend are chockfull of authentic Hoosier heritage and late-summer fun. The antique tractor pull, pictured here in Lanesville, is a popular event. | Photo courtesy of the Lanesville Heritage Society

Hoosier Heritage on Display at 2 Massive Festivals This Month
Patti Danner
If you’re looking to escape the weekend crowds this month, two massive festivals in two tiny towns might just be the ticket. Writer Patti Danner guides us through what you can expect from the White River Valley Antique Show (Sept. 6-9) and the Lanesville Heritage Weekend (Sept. 13-16). Each are chockfull of authentic Hoosier heritage and late-summer fun. Click here to read the full story.
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True crime writer Sarah Kolodziej has been hooked on stories of crime, murder, and suicide since she was five years old. While a case anywhere might grab her eye, most of the ones she writes about on her "Crime Spotlight" blog and Instagram account have ties to Bloomington and Indiana — especially cold cases and unsolved crimes. | Courtesy photo

‘Crime Spotlight’ Writer Does Justice to True Crime Stories
Jonah Chester
True crime writer Sarah Kolodziej has been hooked on stories of crime, murder, and suicide since she was five years old. While a case anywhere might grab her eye, most of the ones she writes about on her "Crime Spotlight" blog and Instagram account have ties to Bloomington and Indiana — especially cold cases and unsolved crimes. Writer Jonah Chester investigates. Click here to read the full story.
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